


Dark & Light's 2nd Chance

by MaskedNightingale



Series: Second Chances AU [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Basilisk is Heri's new mom, Death goes to Hogwarts, Death will go to great lengths to protect Herri, F/M, Female Harry Potter, Harry Potter is a Horcrux, Hufflepuff Neville Longbottom, Magically Powerful Harry Potter, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, Master of Death Harry Potter, Nestmother Basilisk, Possessive Behavior, Possessive Voldemort (Harry Potter), Quirrellmort - Freeform, Ravenclaw Hermione Granger, Second Chances, Slytherin Harry Potter, Starting from 11 again, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-19 06:33:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 11,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21864610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaskedNightingale/pseuds/MaskedNightingale
Summary: Voldemort is struck down in the final battle only to be offered a second chance once he's in the abyss.Herri sacrifices her life on the battle field as her duel with Voldemort leads them both dead. However, she wakes in a place called the Sanctuary where she's offered 2 choices: 1) She could live a new life in a different realm, her troubles but also her past friends forgotten. (2) She could do it all over again but this time she'd do things differently.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Tom Riddle | Voldemort, Harry Potter/Voldemort
Series: Second Chances AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1575175
Comments: 65
Kudos: 546





	1. Prologue

Deep in the darkness, before one such being that had become darkness itself began to fade into nothing, a voice rung out around him.

“If you could do it again, would you do it the same?”

No words were spoken for even in death, the darkened heartfelt as if he could not be given peace. 

“If you had for instance known, you had been played.”

“What?!”

“You are such a fool. Dumbledore made you fall for his trap even in death.” The voice laughed out a chillingly sweet sound in the darkness. 

“Did you ever wonder why the child was connected to you? Why Dumbledore didn’t even protect the Chosen One. No, he wanted you to kill her.”

“Speak what you wish to say or leave me alone to cruel fate.”

The laughter continued on louder, “Funny you should mention fate. For the day you shot that spell at that infant she became attached to yours. If you had protected her instead of going to kill her your fate would have changed.”

A growl came from the mouthless, the bodyless, person fading by each second.

“Yes, if only you had known that she was your very own Horcrux.” 

The growl turned louder and from it turned into a hiss as if from a large serpent cursing itself. 

“You know nothing!”

The laughter grew thunderous. 

“On the contrary, I know everything! And I’m here to offer you a second chance.”

“There is no such thing.”

“I once said the very same thing before everything changed and now you shall experience it too. However a warning you’ll find that the child will have changed too. After all she’s getting a second chance as well.”

With those words, the darkness became succumbed with endless night and the screams of the being shredded once again. 


	2. The Other Side

Harri awoke screaming and flailing, but instead of the field of death surrounding her or red eyes shining back a normal bedroom surrounded her. It felt warm like the Gryffindor common rooms but soft with its knit quilts over the bed and cushions on a chair with a vanity.

“Where am I?” She thought she had died. Carefully she swung her legs over the side of the bed to see them clad in silk pajama bottoms. They seemed to clash with their surroundings while they felt luxurious against her skin. 

Looking furtively around her, afraid of being watched she found no one and nothing. There was a rocking chair in front of a grand window and to the side in built-ins were hundreds of books. To the right of the built-in was a fireplace and above it the flattest tv she’d ever seen. She wondered how it worked with how thin it was. 

Her thin fingers trailed across the spines before stopping her whole body frozen. Before her body went in overdrive and she started taking out a whole series of books one after another.

All with a boy on the cover, sometimes on a broom other times with his wand high in the air.

“Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the…” She trailed off and sunk into the rocking chair behind her some of the books falling to the floor. 

She opened the first in curiosity, “‘Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of number 4 Privet Drive were proud to say that they were perfectly normal…” She couldn’t stop reading once she started.

She was more than halfway through the first book when a knock came at a door that she hadn’t even noticed until then.

“Come in.” She was hesitant but far too curious. 

“Hello Ms. Harri. I hope you slept well.” The voice was sweet and kind with no falsities to it. In came a woman with golden curls falling down her back and beautiful blue eyes. “My name is Christine.” 

She swept into the room as if her feet were gliding and she set a tray of brisket bite size sandwiches and tea. 

“Where am I?”

“You are on the other side.”

“Of death?”

“No, not exactly.” She looked down at the bed’s edge, “May I sit?” 

Harri nodded.

“The way it was explained to me is that there are many different worlds that function side by side with each other. Some are very similar to each other while others function on different rules. You are simply on another side of the world you came from. You are safe. Here’s a sanctuary of sorts. It was made for those from other worlds that weren’t able to live their lives to the fullest and yet made large impressions that reverberated between the different worlds.”

“How long have you been here?”

“I decided to stay at the sanctuary after being given a second chance. I felt as if I was meant to help others like me.” Christine smoothed out her skirts, “Time does not exist at the sanctuary. It’s a place of healing and recuperation before you decide the course you wish to take.”

Harri’s dark eyebrows furrowed not sure she was quite sure what to make of the young woman before her. On a whim, she looked out the window and found the expanse of space beyond the window, like what was only seen by pictures taken by astronauts.

“These books are then…?”

“The reaction of your impressions made on your universe, they seeped into another. Your story is quite famous in fact, far more than mine was. There are plays, movies and plenty of fan-written fictions made in the inspiration for it.”

“What do I do now?”

“You have the chance to peruse your history at a safe distance, then decide if you wish to have a second chance in a different universe separated from your other past or you may redo the past of your original world.”

The blonde angelic like creature gave Harri a smile, “I’ll leave you to eat and think. Just remember that nothing is as it seems and that those who seem to be the hero of one story can be the villain in anothers.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harri didn’t know how long she was in the strange place. She explored the Sanctuary and met many an interesting person, many who were in the same dilemma as she. Should she go back to the horrible life she had before but have the chance to change things for the better? Or could she forget and live a new life away from it all. Away from magic, her tragic past and the weight of the world that had been put on her shoulders at way too young an age.

But as she saw others leave and she saw them make new stories for themselves, the friends she made and lost came back to her one at a time.

But she was held back by the thought of facing the villain of her story again.

As she sulked out in the galaxy garden on the Sanctuary’s grounds that is where Christine found her. 

“What troubles you, Harri?”

A large blustery sigh came from the young woman on the ground viewing the vast space above her head.

“I love the idea of starting again away from everything I knew before but…”

“You can’t forget those you left behind?”

“Yes. How did you do it?”

Christine gazed down at her a sad smile on her lips, “I wasn’t really given a choice. There was already someone to take my place to give another in my story a second chance. My guilt was forgotten, my memories didn’t come back until I asked them to be. I wish I could have been the one to make him happy but….the person that went in my place ended up being the right person. Both had felt the same sort of pain, and both were able to heal together. Friendship turned into love for them. I don’t think I could have ever truly loved him for everything that he was, even his darkness.”

A wave of curls spun around as the blonde shook her head, “What I suppose I’m saying is before you make either choice I would look at the villains in your story and make extra sure that they weren’t exactly as they seemed. How we treat those who have wronged us, shows who we can be.”

“I don’t think I can with my enemy. He killed my parents and took everything good away from me.”

“I can’t imagine that pain, my own father died from illness when I was a young woman. However, did you ever look into why he became as he was. Perhaps you’ll find that he wasn’t the only one who was misunderstood.”

“You’ve read my story haven’t you?”

A blush reddened the cheeks of the young woman, “Only to see how I can help.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the end, Harri could not leave behind those she cared about. She could not stand for the same mistakes made again but she also knew that one day she would have to face him. That day would be the day she’d find out if she’d made the wrong decision or not.


	3. From the Beginning

_Bang! Bang! Bang!_

The banging shook the cupboard making its occupant jolt awake, eyes widening as they took in their surroundings.

“Back in hell.” The occupant whispered.

**Not for long young one.** Death’s voice sounded in her head and she shook it.

“I’m not going to get used to that anytime soon.”

Before agreeing to come back for her “second chance” Herri became aware of her inheritance, she was to be the Master of Death. She had laughed at the irony before signing the contract, signing over her mortality for the opportunity to save her friend’s from death as well. For her bonded: both in love, friendship and family would have the chance to live without death in their futures as well. She would still age, but Death stated she could decide on the desired age she’d wish to be forever suspended in time with when it came to decide.

“Get up freak!”

As Herri came out of the cupboard her eyes caught a reflection of her tiny thin body with eyes so much older than the age she seemed. 

As soon as she was in the kitchen her body automatically doing as it did, as it had done years ago, she realized from Dudley’s whining that it was the day that her post from Hogwarts would arrive. 

As she tuned out Petunia’s scolding and Dudley’s indignant cries she planned her next steps. 

The sound of the post going through the front door’s slot caused an uproar as Dudley refused to do any work and as always the work fell on Herri’s shoulders. 

Quickly she made her way to the front door, slipping her letter into her back waistband before anyone could see it. 

She jumped as Petunia rounded the corner, “Get out of here and do your chores outside.”

“Yes, Aunt Petunia.” A different unsavory expression in the back of her mind instead of what she said out loud.

Once outside she went behind the garden shed in the pretence of gathering some tools, but while there with Death’s help she created a golem of her younger self. She would not remain here longer than was necessary. With a wave of wandless magic she disillusioned herself as her other ‘self’ weeded the garden, and she made her way down the street before apparatin to an alley not far from Diagon Alley. 

“Thank you.” She whispered to the air surrounding her and a dark chuckle answered her.

Quickly she combed out her bangs so that they fell in front of her scar and then brushed herself off from her apparition.

“I can do this!’

She was breaking so many rules and it felt liberating. Not that she hadn’t with the rest of the trio back the last time she lived but this time she was breaking free from the things that had trapped her the first time around and it was freeing. 

“Here I go,” She whispered it before entering the pub and had to stop herself from gasping when she realised who sat at the barstools at the front. Quirrelmort himself, she had read that name for him in one of the fanfictions and the name stuck with her. Suddenly a dangerous thought came to her mind, and before she second guess herself she was walking up to the bar where Tom stood. 

“Hello little miss, are you looking for your parents?”

She knew Tom didn’t mean anything by it but him speaking down to her rose her eye. 

Taking a deep breath, “Actually my guardians were unable to come with me today. I was informed by the Headmaster himself that I was to meet a teacher here who would take me to get my supplies.”

“Why we have a Professor right here, meet Professor Quirrell little miss.”

“How do you do?” She curtseyed knowing just how to throw Quirrell and his parasite off balance, she batted her eleven year old lashes and held up her hand to the professor. 

“Shall we go now?”

Quirrel seemed quite confused, “I...I’m not...not…” A flash of red and then he straightened up gingerly put his gloved hand in Herri’s. 

“This way, Miss?”

“Herriette.” She reached her hand out letting the sweater she wore fall from her shoulder to show off some long scars along her shoulder. She bent toward him, whispering conspiratively, “I didn’t even know my full name until the letter came. So now I want to be called it whenever I can!” 

She saw Quirrell’s pale eyebrows furrow, the crimson glinting in the background. 

Good, she thought, he was listening. She smiled up at him with a shy smile and tilt of her head. 


	4. Not The Herri He Was Looking For

The child was different. She was more outgoing right from the start, he remembered when the pest had first arrived at Hogwarts the last time around. She was just as pale and sickly but her eyes stayed to the ground barely looking up. It wasn’t until she was sorted and paired with the other two banes of his existence that she started to act more predictable. 

The voice had told him she would be changed, but that held him to a question. Did she remember?

She peered up at him with intelligent and far too wise eyes a depth within them that was indeed dangerous.

“We should go to Gringotts first?”

“Is that a bank?”

“Of sorts.” 

She smiled again this time it looked a little more like a smirk.

She tightened her little hand around his gloved hand as the swerved through the crowds of colorful dressed people. Diagon Alley was alive and carefree, none knowing of whom really walked in their midst. 

She didn’t tug him here or there like the other children with their guardians. She was well behaved looking at the windows they passed in subdued interest, surprise not on her features. It was as if she knew what she would see.

Not long did they find themselves in front of the large glistening Gringotts. The Dark Lord could feel the piercing eyes of the goblins as if they knew exactly where he hid. He never liked them, and they never seemed to like him either. Of course, the goblins didn’t like wizardkind at all they merely tolerated them. 

As they walked up to one of the teller’s the goblin peered at them with narrow eyes. 

Once more the girl curtseyed this time to the goblin, “May your gold overflow.”

Yes the child definitely was not the same.

“May your enemies tremble at your feet.” The goblin responded.

“May I please have access to the Potter account?”

“Do you have a key?”

“No however if you have a test I can take, I’ll do that.”

“Right this way then little lady.”

The goblin looked suspiciously at Quirrell it’s sneer apparent. 

The girl looked to and from the two of them her lips pursed as if she was stopping herself from laughing. 

“Can you come with me Professor?”

Quirrell nodded, the Dark Lord was silent as of now.

They were led into a room stacked high with old tomes and artifacts in the center was a goblin upon a high, almost throne-like seat.

“Child, I sense something different with your magic.”

The girl froze her eyes darting downwards.

She took a deep breath before speaking with a small voice, “What’s wrong with it?”   
  


“We can find out however that will be extra.”

“I understand.” 

The older goblin reached forward asking for the child’s hand a long blade in the other hand. 

The child without fear gave her hand over, her eyes intent on the blade her eyes darting to the magical parchment beneath her hand. 

Quirrell watched as the child barely flinched as the blade sliced her palm, her blood streaming down from the blade and soaking the parchment beneath it.

The goblins eyes widened, “Very interesting indeed.”

He looked up at the child, “Do you trust this man here?”

“I know who he is.”

The phrase was heavy and waited and the goblin didn’t even blink as the professor’s eyes glinted in a ruby like light. 


	5. The Truth of the Matter

**Name: Herriette Ianthe Potter**

**Father: James Potter**

**Mother: Lily Evans-Potter**

**Heiress to the House of Potter (paternal)**

**Heir Apparent to the House of Black (godparent)**

**Lady Slytherin (shared heirship with soulbond)**

**Lady Peverell (paternal)**

**Inherited Abilities: Death magic (Peverell), Parseltongue (soulbond), **

**Natural animagus (paternal)**

**Soulbond: Tom Marvolo Riddle**

**50% Core magic blocked (illegal, Dumbledore)**

**50% Animagus magic blocked (illegal, Dumbledore)**

**Compulsion charm to befriend Weasleys (illegal, Dumbledore)**

**Compulsion charm to trust Dumbledore (illegal, Dumbledore)**

The truth had been revealed. She had been played by Dumbledore, just like he played with everyone else including one Tom Riddle. 

Herri couldn’t stop the growl that came from her, her teeth clenched and her fists tightened at her sides.

“Can the compulsions be removed today?” 

“Yes.”

“Please take the necessary fee from my Potter vault. Also please take any goblin made artifacts, they were yours to begin with.” 

She knew she’d lost the innocent girl act but she didn’t care. Now Quirrelmort and she were on even ground. He knew of the bond through the horcrux, and it would now be in his court. 

As the goblin left to get the necessary things to remove the compulsions, she turned toward Quirrelmort. 

She was tired all of a sudden and just wanted a truth, “Is this your second time around as well?” 

Crimson flashed more vividly this time and no stutter came from the mouth of the host.

Before he could speak, she wanted to make something very clear, “You can have at Dumbledore, the philosopher's stone whatever you like I don’t care. What I do care about is the students of Hogwarts and the youth of this age. I want them to remain safe. As long as you don’t endanger their lives I don’t care what you do. This time all I want is for us to survive without being manipulated by forces beyond our control.”

She let out a big breath her bangs blew up revealing the scar he gave her. 

“I’ll no longer be anyone’s pawn in this world’s powerplay landscape.”

“Well said, Lady Potter.” The voice was deeper than that of Quirrell’s and Quirrell’s lips had not moved. “What will you do this time with your life?”

“Live. I will simply live.”

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The girl was bold. Her eyes were fierce as they connected with his no longer hiding crimson eyes. 

She may not wish to be a pawn in the game to unfold but he could think of several uses for the powerful witch in front of her. 

She had a part of his soul within her and that made her his. The voice had been right so many opportunities had opened up to him now. Now that the wool was lifted from her eyes regarding the old kook of a headmaster. Now that she would strive to not get in his way. Now that she was no longer a sheep. No, he thought, she was a wolf and he would just have to show her what she could be.


	6. A New Home & An Old Journey

The Peverell manor sat amidst a forest at the end of a long road. The wards strong for the hundreds of years it sat waiting for the next heir to come back. The house elves were excited because the family magic was alive once more, which meant their new lord or lady had claimed their lordship ring. 

The magic had rushed through the grounds the gardens coming alive once more and the fountains began to flow again. 

As Herriette apparated at the front gates and placed her hand against the houses coat of arms, a jolt going through her palm, and the rest of her body the gates opened up for the new Lady of the estate. 

The walk took awhile but she didn’t wish to apparate further in the property, instead for the first time in a long time (excluding the time in the Sanctuary) she took a deep breath and strode forward her head held high and her arms swinging at her side. She passed an observatory, conservatory and several garden houses on the way up the shaded way. Vines wove themselves around the host trees that lined the way to her new home and as she reached it her breath caught in her throat. 

It was not lofty like other manor houses, but in no way was it remiss in its grandeur. Vines crept up old cobbled walls. Tall windows shined from beneath the foliage and archways led into a courtyard. 

As she went to open the front door it blew open in wisp of strong magic and lined on either side of the grand entry hall were at least a dozen house elves if not more. 

“Mistress at last!” 

She was taken aback not only from the beings that welcomed her but also from the immaculateness of the estate.

“Hello, have you all been stasis?”

“Yes Mistress.” They all chimed, and yet she was thankful to the previous Peverells for it looked like they took good care of them. They all wore lightweight shifts that were clean and the Peverell crest on the front. 

“My name is Herriette. May I know your names please?”

Their eyes widened before all of them lined up in front of her.

The oldest of the elves stood up straight with a look of pride in his eyes. 

“I am Nolrey. I have served for many generations. I look over the youngsters and make sure the house is managed.”

“Ah, so like a butler.” Herri bent low and offered her hand to shake with Nolrey who took it cautiously, “It’s an honor to have you serve me Nolrey.”

Many introduced themselves after him and Herri shook all their hands much to their surprise and almost trepidation. 

“Now Nolrey could you take me on a tour, please.”

“Of course Mistress.”

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The grounds and home was perfect for what Herri wanted to do, without so much as taking a day of rest she informed Nolrey of her plans. 

“I would like to keep in contact with you while I reside at Hogwarts. What’s the best way for me to do so, in the most private way possible?”

“Nolrey can have one of your ladies maid elves come with you to Hogwarts and pass the message.”

“That will do, thank you.” 

While Herriette had been in the Sanctuary she had researched all the families that were present in Wizarding Britain as well as some globally. She had made the plan that she would make a sanctuary of her own, for those who didn’t have a chance to live to their fullest in her world. It would be a place for magically talented orphans, for the outcasts, for the abused and she would make it a home for them all. She had enough space and if she ever ran out Nolrey had told her it could be easily expanded. She could even create a small village if she wished on her grounds. She had already strengthened the wards so that none could pass accept those she honestly wished to. 

As she prepared the rooms for her guests alongside several of her house elves she found herself ready to take on Hogwarts once more, this time with a new mission and perspective.

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Being on the Hogwarts Express with Hedgwig by her side and her trunk (which she had gotten a much larger one with many rooms and compartments) sat beside her felt surreal. 

When she had been shopping with Quirrelmort not much else exciting happened, she didn’t have the interaction with Draco since he would come later. She got the same wand as last time except with elder wood this time. The Dark Lord did not speak again either, which Herri wasn’t sure was glad for or not. On one hand she didn’t have to talk further with him while on the other who knows what he could have been planning.

Herri shook her head and looked out the window, her mind drifting to the sorting that was ahead of her. She had an idea that she would most likely be sorted into Slytherin. Slytherins may be ambitious but they also did what they needed to survive as well as being fiercely loyal. She knew however that Dumbles would immediately have an issue with that and his eyes would be on her even more so. But she had a plan for that too, she planned to thwart him when he tried to divide the houses and instead her goal was to gather a group of comrades from all the houses. Her eyes would be looking out for those who might be bullied, have rough childhoods and those who needed to have a friend. She’d also be looking out for more protectors like her that would rise up and rise others with them. That was the only Gryffindor quality she had left, she was not afraid of doing what needed to be done to protect those that were important to her.

“Excuse me, have you seen a toad?” 

Herri looked away from the window her lips curving into a bittersweet smile as she viewed her old best friend. 

“What’s the toad’s name?”

“Oh, his name is Trevor.” 

Leaning out the door and with a wave of her hand she whispered, “Accio Trevor the toad.” 

Moments later the toad came flying into her hand and she cradled him to her chest.

“To whom does this little one belong too?”

Hermione opened her mouth to answer before Neville bounced up next to her.

“Trevor!”

A smaller boy came bouncing up in a sweater vest and slacks. 

“Thank you for finding him.”

“I wouldn’t have been able to do so without…” Herri turned to Hermione, “I didn’t catch your name.”

“Hermione.”

“...without Hermione actively asking me about the toad, without her you wouldn’t have him back.”

“Thank you Hermione!”

“Would you like to both join me?”

Her smile was hopeful, Hermione was a friend that didn’t have to become her friend but she did. She chose her, and not because of her fame. Neville was simply a sweetheart and deserves all the hugs she would give him in the future if he let her.

“I don’t see why not. Neville?”

“I can too.”

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Hermione had been watching her new acquaintance with curious eyes. There was something familiar about her, but it wasn’t until she had leaned over to shift her trunk over to make some more room for her and Neville that it came to her.

“You are Herri Potter!”

A lop-sided almost bitter smile came upon the girls lips. 

“Yes, I am.”

It was whispered in a sort of exasperated low tone but it was the sadness that made Hermione close her mouth before speaking all she knew about the girl. 

“What Hogwarts house do you think you’ll be in?”

A look of relief came across Herri’s face and Hermione felt a warm feeling in return as if she did a great deed. 

“I suppose everyone would expect me to go to Gryffindor, but this time I will probably be in Slytherin.”

Before Hermione could ask what she meant by next time, a lady with a trolley of sweets came by. Hermione found herself observing the girl once more as Herri bought treats and began to disperse them between the three of them. 

“I think I will probably been in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. I have heard great things about Gryffindor, the Headmaster was a Gryffindor and he was said to be the most powerful wizard to have lived in the last couple of centuries.”

“Here I think you’ll like these sugar quills.”

Hermione opened the wrapped and as she sucked on them she found she indeed did enjoy them very much.

“I think you’ll be in Ravenclaw. They are known for being wise, quick witted and knowledgeable.”

Neville smiled shaking his head up and down, “I think you would be great in Ravenclaw, Hermione.”

She found herself blushing at their praise and couldn’t help her mind starting to reconsider Ravenclaw as the better option. 

Neville had turned to Herri, “What House do you think I’ll be in?”

Hermione could see it the moment that Herri knew which house Neville would be good in and yet she hmmed and haahed for a bit before speaking once more.

“Neville I feel like your a bright force of nature. Kind and loyal. I think you would make an amazing Hufflepuff. They are hardworking, loyal and kind.”

His cheeks reddened as Herri commended him, he looked down before speaking once more, “Most say Hufflepuff is a rubbish house made out of outcasts, but I think they have been wrong I’ve heard of a few great wizards that came from there. I also her Professor Sprout is the Herbology teacher and the dorms are bright with plants all around. I think I’d be really happy there.” He looked up at both girls before ducking his head again his cheeks a flame, “But I would miss you two.”

“Who says we can’t still be friends. I plan to still be your friend no matter where you are sorted.”

“I’m your friend?”

“If you would like. I like the both of you very much. I plan on making a family of my own at Hogwarts. I don’t have much family to speak of and I’d love to start with you two being a part of it if you’d like.”

Hermione smiled at the girl, she could see a slight shine in her eyes. A sign that she was afraid they’d say no.

“I would be honored.” Hermione shook Herri’s hand, quickly followed by Neville who did they same. 


	7. Put in Place by a Snake

Herri was proud of her friends, they had all made the houses she thought they would. She was already changing things for the better. Neville would get more support and friendships surrounded by like-minded individuals in Hufflepuff. Hermione wouldn’t be bullied by her fellow schoolmates as much as she had been in Gryffindor, at least not for being smart. She herself had made it into the dragon’s den, the home of the snakes.

A giggle had burst forth when the whole hall had gasped in succession of her sorting, but she simply waved at Granger and Longbottom both of them waving cheerily back. She sat primly and properly at the table of serpents ignoring the glares and suspicious looks. It was all worth it for the lost sparkle in Dumbledore’s eyes. Just you wait, old man, nothing is going to go to plan, Herri thought vindictively. Her eyes drifting ever so slightly across the teacher’s table meeting a briefly crimson gaze and smiling back with her teeth glinting. Quirrelmort responded with an almost imperceptible nod. 

Herri turned back to look over the long table of Slytherins. As many sneered and glared, she smiled in return. Her own house would be a battle that she needed to win. She would need their trust if she was going to be able to help them. 

In order to do that she would need to establish that she was not the enemy.

To start, she caught the eye of one, Blaise Zabini, her grin widening mischievously causing him to blink stoically. 

“Hello!”

He nodded his head at her.

“Isn’t it brilliant! I made it into Slytherin!”

A petite blonde with a familiar haughty expression scoffed, “Do you expect us to believe that the Great Potter wished to be a snake?”

Her gaze narrowed but her smile stayed put, her voice hissing softly in Draco’s direction.

_ Of course, after all I can speak to snakes. _

Heir Malfoy’s eyes widened comically. 

It was Blaise who spoke up a small spark of curiosity in his otherwise stoic expression, “You are a Parselmouth?”

“Yes, I’ve been one since before I could speak.”

The Slytherin’s opening feast appeared before them, and everyone proceeded to fill their plates. 

“Snakes make excellent friends.” Herri didn’t have to see to know the looks she received from her statement. 

lvxhplvxhplvxhplvxhplvxhplvxhplvxhplvxhplvxhplvxhplvxhplvxhplvxhpvlvxhplvxhplvxhplvxhplvxhp

Quirell kept the young Potter in his peripherals. He nearly choked as a gasp came over the Slytherin table, loud enough for himself and the stoic potions master to hear of the Lady Potter’s extremely rare talent.

The Dark Lord in the back of his mind only let out a quiet, pleased cackle. The girl was an asset indeed.

  
  


It wasn’t until his first class with the Slytherins that he saw her vicious streak. It happened when the youngest ginger in the school spoke up among his fellow housemates.

“What a disgrace!”

The Slytherin side of the room remained stoic, none of them even reacting when the outspoken ginger sauntered over to one of their own (no matter how much they wished to ignore that she was one of them).

The said target kept herself facing to the front of the classroom where Quirrell was preparing to start the class.

“Herri Potter, I’m talking to you!”

She continued to ignore him instead she began to set out her utensils for taking notes, at least until a large freckled nose butted in under her eye line. 

“Why what a large nose you have!”

“What?” The redhead reared back.

“Nevermind.” She shook her head, before turning her gaze upon the ginger. “What can I help you with today Mr. Weasly?”

He gaped at her, his pink lips flapping open.

“Hurry up, what is it?” 

“I…”

“Yes, as I expected you are just a little lion full of hot air; now shoo some of us here for an actual purpose.” 

“Well...well said, Lady Potter.” Quirrell clapped his hands, “To your seats the rest of you.”

Weasley’s hands clenched at his side, a finger pointing in the direction of the young lady. 

A gasp came from the class as she turned back toward him and pointed her own finger at him, 

“To your seat, Weasley!”

As if impacted by a might punch the ginger haired rapscallion flew backwards before being directed seemingly by the direction of Lady’s Potter finger back into his seat. 


	8. The Queen of Snakes

Herri hadn’t meant to go to the Chamber so early in her second time around. However, a part of her had drawn her towards Myrtle’s bathroom on the eve of Halloween. 

As if in a trance she walked to the sinks and whispered _Open_ and _Stairs_. 

As she descended down below, she closed the hole behind her and made her way deeper into the chamber. 

Her mind remembering her second year coming down there, frightened for her friend and determined to save her. 

There was a part of her that always wished that she hadn’t had to kill the basilisk. It was such a beautiful majestic beast. The Queen of all Snakes. 

It was that part of her that drove her towards the home of the said majestic queen. 

When she reached the chamber where the Salazar’s visage was paramount and a small pond (nearly a small lake) formed at the base of the sculpture; she sat at the base and closed her eyes. 

_Oh great queen of snakes. I call to thee, Lady Slytherin calls thee. _

The sound of nails of chalkboard echoed through the hall-like room bouncing off the stone walls as thousands of razor sharp scales brushed against them as the great beast awoke. 

_Heiress of Slytherin....what do you command?_

Heri bowed her head in the direction of the beast. 

_It is not what you can do for me, but what I can do for you._

Heri kept herself still even as she felt the great beast’s breath against her face. 

_I have inherited several properties where you can have your pick, if you wish to have your own kingdom. I wish only that you not harm those innocent, and only attack those who seek to destroy you. _

_Open your eyes, young one. One who holds the gift of speech with me can gaze upon me with no fear. _

Heri eyes blinked open and looked at the great beast before her.

_I see in your eyes a history of a life lived already, child._

Emerald eyes widened while looking into those of crimson fire. 

_Yes, this is my second life. I wish to correct the mistakes I made and live free from those who sought to control me in the other life._

Heri tilted her head down.

_I fear I did not respect you, in the other life. I slayed you instead. I wish to repay you for the past, even if it is one you cannot remember._

_Young one, it is not for those young to pay for the mistakes of the past. _

Without her permission, Heri could feel her eyes fill with tears and she kneeled before the great beauty before her. 

_That may be so, however in this life I wish to make sure you are honored instead of disrespected. _

The giant head rested lightly on top of the young girl’s head, nuzzling her hair. 

_None of my young lived very long. I wish to have my own snakelings. _

Heri gazed reverently at the beast before her.

_I’ll make sure to protect you and them. _

_It is I who wishes to protect you, little snake. I will take care of you first before I leave to one of your lands to make new little ones._

_I do not deserve your protection._

_You will have it regardless. You are mine now, little snake and I will make sure you live long little one. _

_What may I call you, mother of snakes._

_Wadjet was the name I was once called. However I’ll be your nestmother now little one. _

Her long coils wrapped around Heri, and despite the sounds that clanged against the stone walls earlier. Her coils didn’t injure the little girl. They seemed to soften as they wrapped around her. 

_Now sleep little one. I will wake you in the morn._

~~~

Thus, this is how the Dark Lord found his little horcrux wrapped in the coils of the Queen of all Snakes soundly asleep.


	9. When Protections Are Needed

The Dark Lord’s plans had gone well. Quirrell did die from the ritual and the Philosopher’s Stone had been dissolved but he was now in his own body with his soul more intact with the diadem absorbed. 

He kept the glamor of Quirrell for appearances and to watch over his little horcrux, and watch the drama play out when Dumbledore discovered that the stone in the mirror behind all his traps was merely a fake. 

However with growing concern he noticed that as each day passed after Halloween, the girl looked more gaunt and sickly. Large dark circles were showing under her eyes. 

So on a day when he had the rest of the day off, and he saw her pass by his classroom he followed suit. She seemed to sway, and had to hold onto walls occasionally before she finally came to the Headmaster’s office door. Straightening her spine she seemed to somehow dispel all her fatigue for the moment, her head held high as she spoke the password to the gargoyle guarding the entrance before it stepped aside. 

His crimson gaze narrowed upon the door, what did Dumbledore want with her. The girl obviously was trying to hide her signs of distress from him. From their time in Diagon Alley he had seen her anger toward the old Headmaster for his manipulations. 

Time went by slowly, and when the gargoyle at last stepped aside once more, Voldemort looked down at his pocket watch and was surprised to see more than an hour had passed. The girl was even worse for wear, and yet she still trudged on and yet this time there seemed an urgency to her steps. He followed once more, and found her entering the Chamber of Secrets. 

  
  


Her voice was distressed and yet still hissing almost so softly he could barely hear her from the shadows. 

~I can’t keep doing this nestmother!~

~Have you eaten, little snake?~

The basilisk’s large head tilted down to the girl sitting by her pond. 

~I had some crackers earlier.~

He couldn’t help the scoff that came from him this time, and the large serpent eyes narrowed upon him instantly. He dropped his glamor and stepped from the shadows. 

~The same crackers I saw you sneak before class this morning.~

His little horcrux drew up her knees defensively, pulling down her robes over them and set her chin upon them. 

~Yes.~ 

~Anything else?~

If Voldemort didn’t know better he would think the Great Potter was pouting. 

~I won’t having my soulbond dying on me!~

A sharp, very viper-like grin came upon the little girl’s face, ~Yes wouldn’t want your horcrux destroyed.~

“How did you…?”

Her smile was grim and self deprecating, “How do you think you were able to die the first time? Why do you think I was served up like a martyr?” 

Voldemort’s sharp nails bit into his skin as his fists clenched, “Dumbledore!” Standing and striding aways from the girl, he fired off a curse at an opposing wall desperate to maim, to kill something.

She sighed and rested her chin back upon her knees, “Yes. It’s always him, isn’t it?” 

The Dark Lord froze in his pacing and pivoted his steps back to his little horcrux, “Why were you in his office today? What did he want?” 

She let out another sigh. 

“I didn’t fill enough loopholes in how I got to Diagon Alley or the Station, that was the first meeting and the first time he tried to poke into my mind. It wasn’t that intrusive the first time. Second time he called me to his office, he asked if I wished to re-sorted since he heard rumors that I wasn’t getting along with my housemates. I refused. He offered the friendship of the Weasley boy. I refused. His second intrusion was more intrusive. Since the first meeting I had been fortifying my occlumency shields because I knew he’d tried to get in again. This last meeting…” She turned her head and looked Voldemort straight into his crimson gaze, “He knew somehow that I had received my heirship rings so most likely he knew I knew about the compulsions, he was less….kind.” She stood on shaky legs and let out a slightly crazed laugh, “So I might have laid one of the cards on the table that I shouldn’t have, ok a huge card….like we're talkin a big jumbo card. But I wanted him to know he just messed with the wrong person. I wanted him to know he couldn’t manipulate me anymore even if in this timeline he had yet to manipulate me to the fullest yet.” 

Voldemort’s eyes narrowed, “You didn’t tell him about the future.” 

She let out another high pitch laugh, one that caused an odd shiver to run down his spine from the odd familiar ring it had to one of his cruel ones. 

“I probably shouldn’t tell you this, in fact you are probably the last person I should tell.” She sat back on the basilisk’s pond edge, “Alas it seems our fates are forever tied, so what can one do.” She shrugged, “You spoke earlier about me dying on you, but you want to know a funny little secret.” With a hushed sort of voice as if they were in a crowd of people she bent low her hand cupping his ear as she whispered with a giggle upon her lips, “I can’t die.” 

Voldemort’s eyes widened and his heartbeat quickened at the thought of her words being true, at the thought of an immortal horcrux. He turned his head toward her, his snake-like eyes looking into hers looking for any sign of falsehoods. 

However, she just smiled that bittersweet smile once more, “I’m immortal.” 

She leaned back her hands on the stone rim of the pond, she hummed underneath her breath. “So as Dumbledore sought to molest my mind, I taunted him with something I knew to be true.” She smiled as she showed the wand up one sleeve, but then turned to the other and dropped it into her hand caressing the beautiful wand as Voldemort’s eyes narrowed in greed as he recognized the wand. The wand that once upon a time was Dumbledore’s and before that had been Grindelwald’s...the Elder Wand. “You see in the timeline I had gained ownership of the wand, the cloak from legend was a family heirloom and the ring well…” She seemed to caress her left hand ring finger but he did not see any ring there but he felt it. “Once back in this timeline they were mine once more; of course I do wonder about the ring I’ll have to ask him about that.” 

The pieces were falling into place. 

“Him?”

“Yes, he calls me Mistress; which is so weird. I suppose the alternative would be Master but...I don’t know I’m not used to titles like you are.” 

A different sort of chill was running through Voldemort and yet he refused to move from his horcrux’s side. He would see this through, for if he truly had an immortal horcrux then his plans would need to change once again. 

His horcrux tapped her lips with her finger tips, “I wonder now if I could have just called him with my mind and had him protect my mind from the very beginning or at the very least the last time since it was painful. But then would that given some sort of large glaring Deathly Hallows sign upon my occlumency walls that the Headmaster would have immediately have recognized or at the very least...hmmm.” Jumping from her seat and nearly teetering over into the pond if it weren’t for the basilisk’s head stopping her fall. ~Thank you, nestmother.~

~Be careful, little snake.~

His horcrux nodded before standing straight in the center of the room, her spine straight before she opened her mouth to call out, “Death!” 

“No need to shout, Mistress.” 

The shiver of dread went down Voldemort’s spine as he saw the figure of his nightmare’s standing behind his horcrux. He was clad in a dark cloak but with no silver scythe in his hands, his face was pale like bone and his eyes milky white. He stood tall, thin and waif-like; but there was no doubt that he was lethal with the sharpness of his gaze as he looked at his surroundings until they laid upon Voldemort himself. Death’s features were expressionless and yet something about his posturing as he turned back to the young girl showed his displeasure. 

“Do you think it wise to let a splitter know?” 

Death spoke of him as if he were a thing rather than a person. Death turned his head back towards him. 

“You are just a thing, you will never fully be whole again. You have broken yourself into pieces. You once had the chance to be my master, but lost it as soon as you lost yourself.” 

“Death, I was wondering about that. Is his ring still a horcrux?” 

Death looked down upon the girl’s ring finger, the first look of emotion coming upon his features of disgust. 

“Yes. The two merged from both timelines, at the point of your arrival back here.” 

The girl turned toward Voldemort and showed him her finger the glamor falling from it to show the Gaunt ring. 

“How was I not cursed?”

“The soulbond.” Death replied.

The girl nodded. 

“Was that all you wished for, Mistress?” 

“Um, no...actually, I was wondering if there’s a way to better protect me from Dumbledore.” 

Death tilted his head to the side, his face roaming her features. From her unkempt hair, to the bags under her eyes, to the fact she was swaying on her feet. Quickly he stepped forward and lifted her into his arms, before conjuring a velveteen couch and fireplace on the far wall of the chamber. Striding forward he then set his precious charge on the couch, sitting on the edge and perusing her mind for himself not liking what he saw. 

Voldemort strode forward and stood on the other side of the couch looking down upon his horcrux who was resting her eyes. He didn’t like that Death had held her, which was ridiculous as soon as he thought it he dismissed it. However, there was the thought that she was his. She had said that fate sought to always entwign them, like they were meant to always cross paths. He used to not believe in such things. Of course, he used to not believe in prophecies and yet Death was right in how torn his soul had become that even that…

He spoke up, “She hasn’t been taking care of herself.” 

Death did not look up, “She never was good at taking care of herself. The stubborn little girl.” 

Voldemort was still curious, “What did she say to Dumbledore?” 

Death chuckled it sounded like bones rattling, “She said, ‘It must have been such a disappointment when your wand crumbled to dust in your hands.’” 

She definitely laid a large card upon the table. For her to know his wand crumbled to dust when he first used it when she came back into this timeline, would bring much suspicion regarding the Deathly Hallows upon her. 

“He won’t let this go.” Voldemort looked upon his horcrux, withholding himself from the oddest desire to stroke her hair. 

Death sighed, the sound like a howling wind on a cold winter’s night. “No, he won’t.” 

“She needs to be protected.” 

“She doesn’t like people talking about her like she’s not here.” Her voice was garbled and slower than normal. 

“How would you like to have a fellow Slytherin friend?” 

Her Avada Kedavra eyes narrowed, “You mean you would come to school with me?”

Death nodded, “You need taking care of, you need to be reminded of the basics and also protected from manipulative Headmasters.” 

“A transfer student is going to be suspicious and the boys of slytherin are…” 

“Who said I was going to be a boy?”

“What?” 

Voldemort watched as his little horcrux gaped at Death, and Death grinned with glinting sharpened teeth. 

“If I’m a boy, I can’t keep as close watch on you as I need to. I need to make sure you are sleeping, eating well and taking care of yourself. The best way I can do that is if I go as a girl.” 

Voldemort couldn’t help the small satisfaction he had in seeing someone else have a visceral reaction to Death as a visible shiver went down the girl’s spine. 

“Isn’t that too intrusive?” 

“Until I know you are taking care of yourself, I will remain by your side.” 

His little horcrux let out a long suffering sigh, before she looked up at Death. 

“Ok, show me what you are going to look like.” 

After numerous attempts that “freaked her out” his horcrux’s words, not his, she threw her hands up in the air before she turned on her heel and smiled back at death, almost with mischievousness.

“Could you look like you were the little sister of Christine from the Sanctuary? Or like the child version of Christine? But don’t act like her, that would be creepy. Just be yourself. I just miss her face.” 

Death nodded and soon turned into a beautiful eleven year old girl with long curly golden locks and large blue eyes but the same dead expression that he always had. She was dressed in black lace dress and black lace bow adorned her hair.

“Still kinda creepy which I expected but I kinda like it, in a weird sort of way. It’s kind of Addams Family-esque. Ok.” She clapped her hands together. “I can’t introduce you, but maybe I could have Hermione? Say that she had a penpal for a while that had mentioned…”

Death set a hand on her shoulder, “I have already created the background for this identity: ‘Christine Mortis’.” 

Voldemort watched his little horcrux shake her head with laughter as she said, “Mortis? You just couldn’t help yourself, could you?” 

Death gave a grim smile. 

“Won’t it be too obvious?” 

Death and Voldemort made eye contact both of the same mind, “He’s counting on it.” 


	10. 'Christine's First Day

Herri jumped and sheepishly turned toward her new roomie. 'Christine' already wore Slytherin robes and stood with her arms across her chest, her look as imperious as it had been on her ghostly face as it was now on her beautiful one. 

"I lost track of time."

A small but firm grip on her arm was her only warning before the room dissolved around them and they reappeared behind a tapestry around the corner from the Great Hall. 

Before Herri could blink 'Christine' was already pulling her through the doors of the Great Hall only to pause briefly as a voice rang out grabbing everyone's attention.

Dumbledore stood clanging his glass and casting a Sonorous. "Under a strange turn of events we have a new student joining our 1st year students this year. Please welcome, Christine...Mortis. She has been sorted into Slytherin." 

All the kids whispered looking the girls way but no gaze burned quite like the Headmaster's.

"Back straight, chin up and head tall."

Herri nodded and walked over to the Slytherin table sitting towards the end only to have both Blaise and Draco join them. 

No sooner had Herri sat then Christine began piling sausages, roast, steamed veggies, and mashed potatoes with gravy on her plate. 

Herri looked down at the plate heaped with food and even as her stomach growled she looked back at 'Christine'.

"I don't think I'll be able to eat all of this."

"You will."

"It'll do me no good if I get sick from eating too much." 

Large blue eyes stared unblinkingly into emerald before they looked down at the plate of food and then back at Herri. 

'Christine' took a fork and put it in Herri's hand, "Eat." 

Herri sighed, and looked back down but looked back up in relief when she heard 'Christine' say, "But only until you're full."

As Herri began to eat the boys across from them observed. 

"How long have you known each other?" 

Herri glanced up at Blaise's question. Then, looked over at 'Christine' to answer, her mouth full.

"We have been penpals since we were young."

Draco looked over his shoulder and sneered, "The Headmaster keeps looking over here."

'Christine' made a flippant gesture with her hand, "He doesn't like my family."

Blaise made an inelegant snort, "Welcome to Slytherin."

  
  


{Time Skip} 

The next morning when Herri went to drink her morning tea 'Christine' grabbed it from her hands and threw it over her shoulder. 

"What in the world De…"

"It was filthy." 'Christine' interrupted. Her eyes trained across the room, latched onto one particular 1st year redhead.

Herri had dismissed the instance until she had seen Voldemort (disguised as Quirrell) seemingly cornering 'Christine' before lunch but her just shaking her head before heading into the Great Hall along side Herri. 

"What was that about?"

"The tea. I told him it was a love potion but he demanded a name."

They had just sat at the tables, the boys had yet to join them. 

"I don't know why he'd care about that."

'Christine' stared unblinkingly once more at Herri before emitting a long sigh, "For someone who has already lived through too much sorrow for your young years you can be rather dim."

"I'm not that young, I only look young right now."

'Christine's fathomless eyes pulled Herri in so much she didn't realize she was leaning until they were nearly nose to nose. 

"Eighteen years is not even comparable to a fetus when compared to eternity."

Herri sat back, "Well, why didn't you tell him who did it?"

"It wasn't his time to die yet.'

"Whose time to die?"

Herri blinked and looked across the table at Blaise and Draco.

"When did you two get here?"

Draco rose an ivory eyebrow, "We just arrived. Though I'm curious as well, who is the one that can't die yet?"

'Christine' spoke clearly and concisely before taking a sip of her own tea, "The one who put the love potion in Herriette's tea this morning." 

Draco didn't even blink at the mention of his housemate getting drugged however an intrigued smirk came upon his lips as he leaned forward. 

"How do you know it isn't his time to die?"

Something in 'Christine's expression sparked and Herri suddenly worried for the health of anyone but herself. 

"Christine…" Herri's voice had a warning edge but she had not issued a command and so the ruthless expression spread across 'Christine's face. 

Draco watched as the beauty before him morphed into something truly terrifying, her beauty only seemed to enhance the frightening expression on her face.

"I can see when every single being will breathe their last breath anywhere they may be." 

Blaise gulped in a lungful of air and his exclamation jolted several Slytherins.

"You are a Seer!"

'Christine' turned toward him, grinning maniacally. 

"Oh, no ordinary Seer Mr. Zabini. I'm a Death Seer." 

There were several audible gulps from students sitting nearby and the sound of a hand smacking a forehead as Herri leaned forward with a sigh.


	11. Impressions, Reveals & First Steps

Hermione Granger had always been the smartest of all the children in her neighborhood and in fact in her old school as well. It was a strange occurrence to find herself in a place that fitted her so well as the Ravenclaw Tower for the first time in her eleven years of life. 

She couldn’t help but thank her new friend Herriette for encouraging her for she was afraid she might have been stuck with the rowdy and offensive house of Gryffindors if she hadn’t been persuaded otherwise. 

Ravenclaws kept to themselves, were studious and were often found in locked private rooms of the common room for their own experiments and research projects. 

It was however lonely sometimes and so Friday afternoons before dinner, but after classes for Neville, Hermione would meet her new friends in the library to study. It was her favorite time of the week. 

The first time they had their study meet-up after ‘Christine’ arrived Hermione glanced at her with suspicious eyes. She’d heard the strange rumors about the girl.

“Aren’t you being a little too much?”

The girl didn’t even glance her way but just made sure Herri’s scarf was tied around her neck snugly. 

Herri gave a sheepish smile, “It’s ok, Hermione. She’s only gotten like this because I wasn’t taking care of myself the week before she came.” 

Hermione remembered Herri didn’t come to the study group that week. 

Neville arrived, blushing brightly towards the new girl at the table. “Hello, I’m Neville.” 

The blonde turned and stared at the two of them blankly, her eyes seeming like twin blue voids before she blinked. She nodded before checking over Herri once more. 

She wasn't much of a conversationlist. She worked quietly and would only speak up with her oddly soft but cold tones when she felt like Herri needed something. 

~DL2C~

While most of the castle seemed almost unanimously agree to stay away from the strange girl named Christine Morris, the Death seer, two twins had sought to find the perfect moment to speak with her.

It was one such evening that the boys found her wandering up to the 7th floor corridor far too close to curfew. 

"Well you would like to know I assume, quit dawdling." 

Fred and George glanced at each other their minds made up as soon as they saw the others conviction. Once they glanced back up they watched as a door appeared. They quickened their pace as the girl stepped through only leaving the door open for a moment.

They caught it just it just in time only to duck as they saw a spell shoot their way. They had entered a battlefield but it seemed one they were safe from.

"This is how your twin bond breaks the first time.'

George's voice warbles, "The first time." 

Fred grabs onto his shoulder and they lock eyes communicating their fears before striding forward. 

They watch as Hogwarts is torn apart by war, where children are fighting against full grown adults. So many falling and not getting up again. 

Then they hear it, Percy's voice above all the fighting and the race forward. "Did I mention I was resigning?"

The Fred in the battle had spectacularly taken out an opponent and had turned teasing his brother. 

"You actually are joking ... I haven't heard you joke since you were-'

Even before the explosion the twins that watched had felt heart-wrenching dread.

They held each other as they collapsed to the floor even before Percy's cries filled the air. The battle faded and they were in a white room with black couches and a glass fireplace in the center of the nothingness. 

"Silpy." A pop made the boys jump and finally recognize the changes. "Bring the humans some hot chocolate, extra chocolate I expect."

Slowly they made their way over to the couch opposite to where she sat, their hands clasped tightly together scared to let each other go. 

With a pop came an elf with two giant mugs of hot chocolate floating in front of her. 

They took them their shaking hands warming and as they took sips the shock lessened but didn't go fully away.

"So that's how I'll die."

George's hands clenched around his cup at his brothers voice. 

"No."

George let out a breath that sounded more like a gasp for more air. He willed himself to glance first at his brother, still alive and healthy by his side. Closing his eyes he could feel their magic bond they had since they were born still holding strong. 

"Why…" His voice was hoarse, and Fred bumped his shoulder in assurance. "Why show us that?"

She stood and her figure seemed taller and more statuesque for a moment like some sort of ancient being instead of an 11 year old with an old power. 

"This is how Fred had died, before Herri sacrificed everything to change everything."

Fred stood, "How can we make sure that doesn't happen again?"

The girl's lips twitched into an almost smile, "The future has already changed. Herri has laid claim as protector of this generation of youth."

George stood, after he placed his mug on a side table that had appeared at his side, before making his way to his twin's side. Both could feel each other's bond and how unsettled that past future had made them where children had been made into soldiers and pawns of war. 

"How can we help?"

~DL2C~

Herri glanced up to find a familiar duo making their way through the library stacks until they both caught sight of her and made a beeline toward her. 

They arrived and grinned down at her where she sat on the windowseat. Not even one uncomfortable glance at 'Christine' that was on the other side. 

"What can I do for you today?"

"It's not what you can do…"

"...but what we can do for you." 

Herri wasn't expecting the reaction of their twinspeak on her but she immediately felt like the weirdest person as she felt tear tracks make their way down her cheeks. 

"I'm sorry. This is a bit embarrassing but I had some dear friends once who were twins and did that."

Two hands with handkerchiefs came into her view and the twins kneeled before her. Their faces kind and there was something else she wasn't quite sure in there eyes.

"So we were quite close back then." 

Herri let out a gasp, quickly summoned the elder wand to her hand casting a heavy Muffliato around all four of them before she glared at Death.

"Death!"

Just barely out of the corner of her eye she could see the twins make the connection between the wand and what she just happened to say.

Death:Christine shrugged, "They wished to know their deaths. I thought it highly likely they'd be one one of the loved ones you'd select to immortality along with you. So instead I showed them the only relevant death which was Fred's."

An almost whimper like sound came from Herri and she slammed her eyes shut. 

"I didn't want anyone to have to experience anything from that time why would I let them see it."

Fred broke the twins' silence, "It was our choice."

George spoke up, "Why were almost only children fighting?"

Herri let out a long sigh, "That's a long winded answer. Short answer: Dumbles plays with cards close to his chest, keeps secrets but doesn't work well enough in the political scene, he has his own agenda and his own pawns and ultimately his own martyrs. I was his piece-de-resistance." 

"What happened? Who won?" Fred spoke up. 

"I don't know. Voldy and I killed each other." Herri shook her head. "Anyways, what was it you guys wanted to do?" 

"We'd like to sign-up for the roll of Protectors." Fred spoke up his eyes taking on their trademark glint. 

George nodded toward 'Christine', "They filled us in on what you'd like to accomplish and we want in." 

Herri let out a sigh, "Well then we need to make a couple stops before dinner." 


End file.
